Robert Williams: Slang Aesthetics

Robert Williams’ epic cartoon-inspired history paintings draw from American vernacular and its visual slang. Relying on concrete, relatable, and often absurd imagery to invoke social commentary, Williams' work continues to confront and confound. In the 1960s, Williams began creating work that channeled the shifting energies and immediacy of counterculture. His paintings rejected the prevailing dominance of conceptual minimalism, focusing instead on a return to craftsmanship, figuration and popular imagery. In 1979, Williams coined the term “low brow” as a way to articulate his opposition to an establishment “high” art world from which he was excluded. For better or worse, “low brow” became the namesake of the fledgling New Contemporary movement, which Williams was instrumental in fostering. Robert Williams: Slang Aesthetics showcases over thirty oil paintings, along with ephemera and drawings by the artist upheld as the godfather of the lowbrow and pop surrealist art movements. lsumoa.org.

Don't miss:

March 8: Artist Robert Williams will give a gallery talk at 6:30 pm. Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available. $10 for general public, $5 for students/faculty with ID, free for LSU MOA members. 6 pm-8:30 pm.

March 11: Manship Theatre will screen the documentary Robert Williams: Mr. Bitchin’ in conjunction with Slang Aesthetics. Mr. Bitchin’ delivers insight into multiple American countercultures by following the great American artist and underground legend Robert Williams. Museum admission before the film is included in the ticket price. $8.50 for general public, $7 for LSU MOA members. 6 pm.

March 15: Third Thursday: LSU art history professor Joe Givens will give a gallery talk on the work of Robert Williams in the fifth floor museum, followed by a rooftop beer tasting with Brasseurs a la Maison homebrewers. $10 for general public, $5 for members, free for Contemporaries. 6 pm.